Blended Ch 6

Even if the work isn’t the most arduous, it’s hard not to feel a little drained after a shift. Piper is yawning by the time they lock up. She cleans up the main area while Riley cleans the bathrooms. Riley has probably begun to understand that she doesn’t actually need Piper there, just as planned. But she clearly likes the company, and Piper can’t blame her. There are lots of upsides to a job like this, or rather, it lacks the downsides that go with retail or fast food, but it’s still soul-crushingly repetitive and boring. If Piper were here cleaning up by herself at night, she’d be listening to an audiobook, but not Riley. Riley wants to be sociable.

She trots out of the bathroom for the third time, and Piper prepares herself emotionally to find a polite way to tell her that they need to focus and finish so they can get out of here.

“I think something’s wrong,” Riley says. She looks worried, but she’s not freaking out. That’s progress. Piper dutifully turns off her vacuum and follows.

It’s the women’s showers.

“Yup,” Piper confirms, folding her arms. “That’s wrong.”

There’s visible water damage to the ceiling. It’s not just discoloration; it’s going to cave in.

“What do I do?” Riley frets.

“Take a deep breath.”

Riley does so, quite earnestly.

“Now, take your first guess,” Piper tells her.

“Uh, I tell Shondra. And then she’ll call someone or tell me to call someone, probably.”

“Yup. Is that so bad?”

Riley sighs. “I guess not. As long as I don’t get blamed for this.”

“You won’t. Must’ve been that storm a few weeks ago. Stuff happens.”

“It’s late. Should I call or text?”

“Call.”

“Thank you.”

“Tell her you can probably still use the front half of the shower if you tape off the back. Or at the very least, make sure she understands that it’s just the shower that’s busted. You can still open tomorrow with the showers out of order, but don’t even bother opening if you’re closing the ladies’ room.”

Riley takes that in, nodding. “OK.”

“I saw some of that yellow tape in the supply closet. I’ll bring it.”

“Thank you.” Riley seems deeply moved.

If only everyone were this easy to impress. Piper puts the tape up and gets back to work, only for her phone to go off. It’s Bella, calling instead of texting. Must be important. Piper does not panic.

“Hey, you,” she says.

“I need a ride.”

Bella does. She really does. With only four words, she reveals that she is massively drunk. That’s not her at all. Piper has dabbled and Kayla is no more deterred by the legal drinking age than she is by anything else, but Bella does not drink. “Oh, sweetie. You sure do. Where are you?”

“CCL.”

No one is looking, so Piper allows herself to scowl. Was that tonight? A part of her wants to ask who’s there, but it doesn’t matter.

“Yup. Yup, yup.” She runs her hand through her hair and forces a smile. “I’m coming to get you.”

“Thank you.”